EMILY.https://estefanovski.wordpress.com
Digital Media & Society Fri, 18 Aug 2017 04:48:25 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngEMILY.https://estefanovski.wordpress.com
Where digital divide meets Advertisinghttps://estefanovski.wordpress.com/2013/11/26/where-digital-divide-meets-advertising/
https://estefanovski.wordpress.com/2013/11/26/where-digital-divide-meets-advertising/#respondTue, 26 Nov 2013 14:07:31 +0000http://estefanovski.wordpress.com/?p=34]]>The term digital divide is described as the divide in the world where people who have and don’t have access to the online world. It also distinguishes the” capability to use – modern information technology, such as the telephone, television, or the Internet”. (Rouse,2005). The divide is noticeable in people who live in cities and those who live in the country. The divide can also exists through educated and non- educated individuals, economic classes and the less developed technologically nations.

Common Sense media a nonprofit company conducted an survey analyzing the amount of time children under the age of eight years old are spending their time in front of the screens.The study found that there is a common gap between children who come from wealthier families. Who are seen to spend more time involved with mobile networking. Compared to “lower-income children who are more involved in traditional TV watching”. (Kim,2011).

The digital divide is a prime example in the case study of parents facing fears that without their children being ‘tech savvy’ they could end up being classified as being at the wrong side of the digital divide.”A big reason for that (the National Secondary School Computer Fund) coming into existence was to close that digital divide; that equity gap that existed within education,” said Joseph Sweeney, author of the Bring Your Own Device In Education report.

It posses the question if those families cannot afford computers for their children will they therefore be classified as having an educational disadvantage?

The game is seen to be an extension of the digital divide as lower- income families are seen to take a longer period of time to embrace new and selected technologies because of cost factors. . “But as more apps proliferate that are designed to educate and engage younger children, it can help make them more digitally savvy at a younger age”. (Kim,2011).

This can help to prove the difference between children who are able to master and implement their own digital technology skills from a very young age. Therefore apps are they can be viewed as an educational tool which poses an unfair advantage to those families who cant afford to provide these ‘ imperative educational ‘resources to their children.

Another aspect that the digital divide is affecting is indigenous communities. As they are seen to use “about a third of the power consumed by a suburban home, is six times more prone to overcrowding, and probably doesn’t have a home internet connection”.(Thomas,2012)Smaller communities are seen to be given federal funding who have been given internet access, computers and regular visits from experts. To help close the gap on the divide in society. It poses the question should those who live in rural communities or can not financial afford technology be categorized on the wrong side of the digital divide. What has become an increase in the divide in these communities are the cultural differences and the scarce resources that are available to them.

Compared to people in urban and regional areas who don’t have access to the internet as they lack the access of digital and physical resources. There are digital resources in these communities but they are just rare.

Advertising opportunities are being established in developing countries, to help those who are classified to be on the wrong side of the digital divide. To educationally teach and guide them to the online world. “The adoption of tablets and smart phones in Pakistan is seeing a double digit rate rise in digital advertising, driven by banner, search, social media and online video”.(Mohsin, 2012)

Gamification has been identified as the process of using gaming concepts and mechanics to help engage consumers and to also to drive a change in behavior. Marketing looks at this digital channel as a prime focus as this simple and effective concept can be seen to create increasing potentials for businesses themselves. “Gamification, or the use of gaming dynamics to influence user behavior, is gathering steam as a marketing tool for engaging consumers and delivering messages.”( Marketing,2012).

Gamification is seen to be s powerful marketing approach as it allows brands in particular to be able to combine the interest of the business itself and their indented consumer interests. By presenting content in an entreating and fun concept for users to engage in.

With companies using the gamifcation users are being marketed without realizing as they are spending more time on the website or virtual concept. As they feel like they are being provided with their own entertainment.

Gamification is being recognizes for the ability for brands to engage with consumers on a more deeper level and to help guide the consumer through the purchase intent.

The growing dominance of virtual gamification is increasingly becoming to play an substantial role in customer engagement. “Organizations which have adopted gamification have reported greater customer engagement, return on investment (ROI), data quality, timeliness and learning”. (Spire,2012). Gaming applications as a whole are starting to become a more standardized essential of the marketing toolkit.

Gamification’s rise from the traditional form of marketing is not seen to be surprising. With an increase in real- time marketing, there is also an need for more innovative and interactive ways to engage with consumers, “gamification techniques offer an engaging answer by tapping into a user’s innate human traits and driving their behavior”.(Carmeron,2013).

Gamification is seen to be still an emerging concept of brand interaction, but it is noted that consumers are open to interact with brands. Gamification from a marketing perspective should be seen to be integrated into all forms of social, mobile on and offline campaigns to help increase the results and encourage participation.

Social Channels are they key for markets so making these channels large and integrated as much as they can. Interaction with the gamficiation for a company must be accessible and convenient for the consumer. So this can therefore generate interest for the consumer. This will also help increase the increase of sales for the company. Which can be identified as an effective marketing tactic.

An effective example of how gamification is implanted into marketing is Nike launched an application in January 2012, which has therefore developed into a very popular gamified sport. The company was seen to step out their comfort zones as a well-regarded brand in primarily focusing on lifestyle changes and helping their consumers keep fit and healthy.

The gamification concept was built around the idea of the Nike + Fuelband, which was a bracelet that had embedded special technology that helps to monitor and track the users every move. Consumers had to download the Nike+ App where they can then track their own workouts and find out how many calories they are actually burning.

By implementing this gaming concept Nike has also integrated social drives which includes a social dimension of the game itself. This has helped to expand the awareness of the brand and the demand of the product itself.

Incorporating the gamification concept into Nike’s campaign, also allowed consumers to interact with other friends, which is primarily the intent of marketing. “It perpetuates greater level of momentum in user engagement”. (Chou,2013). This is resulted by the points that are accumulated by the user’s distance traveled. They have also incorporated a leader board so others know where individuals are at which also relates to the association of Nike’s brand image of being fit and healthy.

]]>https://estefanovski.wordpress.com/2013/11/12/gamification-marketing/feed/0estefanovskigamification-word-cloudCollective intelligence and Public Relationshttps://estefanovski.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/collective-intelligence-and-public-relations/
https://estefanovski.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/collective-intelligence-and-public-relations/#respondTue, 22 Oct 2013 11:08:20 +0000http://estefanovski.wordpress.com/?p=19]]>Collective intelligence has a significant benefit relating to public relations practitioners, as the field pride individuals as being skilled networkers, which therefore results in effective communicators. The social media networks of twitter, Facebook, blogs and YouTube are all primarily based on collective intelligence and have also resulted in the change of the image of public relations. This has been achieved by creating networks before the Internet PR practioners couldn’t have imagined. The editor of Social Media Explorer, Jason Walls states, “social media is the public relations of the online world”. (Falls, 2008). Social networks such as blogs and social networks make up components of PR. Falls believes that social media will “evolve into components of sophisticated public relations effort”(Falls, 2008). This can be ensured by PR practitioners by making sure they are ready to embrace the responsibility of social media, which can therefore turn the concept of collective intelligence into the most powerful networking tool for coming generations.

Collective intelligence used in Public Relations can have significant impact on the industry itself and the clients involved when put in place. This is particularly evident when individuals from the external environment into a company, which may not have the intended companies, best interest at heart. Which leads to a damaging reputation for a company and therefore leaves the public relations practitioners to amend the damaging reputation. But also there is a strong possibility that collective intelligence can bring benefits to transform the company’s reputations and the involved clients and PR practitioners.

Case Study: Mc Donald’s Japan: A case study of effective PR

Mc Donald’s in Japan improved its image through their food education, which was classified as a corporate social responsibility activity. The company itself incorporated public school teachers, which had an email interview with a representative. Being involved in the company’s program chose the teachers. They explain that the company has now improved their corporate image, which is believed to be contributed to the increase of the sales performance.

This case study was effective due to the impact of the successful PR practioners of Mc Donald’s. Their high level of involvement in schools contributed this. Firstly the corporate image amongst school’s were improved trough their food education food program. After watching video clips individuals believed that the company itself had a high standard of sanitation. Other individuals were pleased with the company’s approach of the quality of educational material. Most teachers acknowledged the use of social contribution that was involved.

PR practitioners were not seen to be well developed in the country until the middle of the 20th century, which has contributed to their affect practices as a collectivistic culture. PR practitioners in japan are seen to maintain a strong relationship with journalists for the prime purpose of being able to use the media as an endorser of a particular product to help establish a trustworthy relationship with their consumers. This can be contributed to the Mc Donald’s campaign and why media have not reported negatively about the education that was put in place in schools. Through the combined relationship of the media and school teachers, Mc Donald’s have seemed to be able to have a more favorable reputation. Due to the effective use of Mc Donald’s implementing successful PR practitioners it has been seen that schools are continuing to grow and also this has had an impact on the sales performance of the company as a whole.

Markets heavily rely on user-generated content in all aspects of their workplace. The use of user-generated content is essential to the marketing profession as it has strong relevance to any type of content that is being marketed to consumers. Marketers are constantly thinking of how the content can be used and where will the content should be displayed to capture consumer’s attention. “Companies are looking for online interaction with customers, a solid presence on social media, and other dynamic ways to connect with potential consumers”. (Pate, A. 2013).

The concept of user- generated content has been made accessible for the relationship between the brand and the consumers. The invention of smartphones has therefore made it easier to “to take photos, make videos, draw pictures, and otherwise broadcast our thoughts and opinions instantly through numerous social channels”.(Kates,M.2013).

User- generated content is an effective tool “for brands to engage both new and existing customers”.( Kates,M.2013). User- generated content is used specifically in campaigns as it makes it easier for the consumer to be able to market on the brand’s behalf which can therefore lead to a higher engagement and therefore provide actionable consumer data.

It is vital for brands to be able to present a call to action which helps to identify the companies objectives of the chosen campaign and also gives an outline on what the objectives are you wish to achieve. User- generated content also has a different intended target audience. “For example, it is far easier for a user to submit a picture or send a tweet than it is to create a video”. (Kates,M.2013).

The content should also increase the level of engagement for consumers by making it easy for consumers to be able to share their content amongst different social channels.

User- generated content is able to provide deeper engagement with the consumers to create a platform where their intended consumers can socialize and be able to control and monitor and in return consumers are able to get access to a rang of products and services which can therefore lead to word of mouth.

A stronger community such as community message board also allows consumers to conduct an open- discussion that has any relevance to the company.

With the rise of social tools and mobiles it gives marketers an opportunity to have engagement with passionate consumers. Which can therefore lead to a greater brand engagement.

Fiesta Movement

An example of User- Generated Content is evident in Ford’s the fiesta movement as it uses 100 bloggers, and cosisits of them having a car and a video camera, to receive monthly challenges and to therefore blog about their own experiences. This resulted in a gain of 6.2 million YouTube views, and 40 million tweets which helped to increase the awareness of the ford fiesta to a new demographic of American consumers. Which also earned an increase in pre- order and sold unit figures.

The head of social media of the ford company implemented this plan in the year 2009. Fast tracking to recent times the campaign is being used for the ‘2014 fiesta movement’, which will help launch the new fiesta. Ford is creating their content on all of their social pages to help gain momentum and to increase followers. The most effective content will be then displayed on the ford’s own fiesta movement website. Instagram images, videos and blogs that are written by the selected consumers will therefore help to form the starting point of ford’s ad campaign. This is ford’s first user- generated content campaign that they are implementing into their brand.